


seven years (I)

by heyitzcarley



Series: seven years [1]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: 9/11, America, Angst, Mention of Character Death, WWII, memorial, the Big Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-21 01:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16149434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitzcarley/pseuds/heyitzcarley
Summary: in which elmer remembers his friends





	seven years (I)

**Author's Note:**

> so i posted this on tumblr and i got some backlash about it, so before you read, i want you to know that i am not in any way trying to disrespect the tradgidy that was 9/11. i'm trying to honor it by tying it in with something that i am passionate about so that other people can understand it and, i guess, honor it better.
> 
> i visited the memorial in washington dc a couple weeks ago and i was really moved by it, so this writing is the product of that. if you are in any way offended by this or made uncomfortable, please TELL ME, so that I can make changes to it. i took it down from my tumblr because i didnt want any more rude or negative comments about it, and i figured that people on ao3 would give me advice on how to change things rather than condemn my writing on the spot.

Elmer was one of the few in his group of friends that didn’t work at the Pentagon or one of the towers. That’s how they all met: through work. Elmer, Ike, Mike, Katherine, and Henry were the only ones who were friends before the whole group got together. Ike’s twin brother, Mike, was offered a job at the Pentagon and Mike had gladly accepted.

They had all gone out together and celebrated that night. Mike would start his new job the next morning and they would all badger him about what it was like to be an “important government person,” in the words of Henry.

Mike introduced them to his work friends: Jack, Anthony, Albert, JoJo, Specs, Mush, Benjamin, Charlie, Patrick, and Romeo. Some from the towers, some from the Pentagon.

Within five minutes of meeting each other, they were laughing and joking together like they’d know each other for years.

Elmer smiled thinly as he remembered that night. They all had piled into two taxis and crowded into Kath’s apartment since it was the biggest.

As he walked through the echoing, drippy tunnel towards the memorial, he inhaled slowly and barely held back tears, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. It had been seven years since the crashes. Ike had only been able to visit once. This was the first time Elmer had ever come alone.

Elmer stepped out of the tunnel, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. It was a beautiful day. It almost didn’t seem fair that the sun was shining when he was visiting. Elmer vaguely wished it would rain. It would suit the day better.

He crossed the parking lot in slow strides, and he could see the benches coming into view.

Being here alone was different than coming with his other friends. The ones who weren’t there that day. It was quieter. The memorial was deserted, so Elmer was by himself. He sighed in relief. People gave him funny looks sometimes. Especially when he cried.

But there was no one here.

He hesitated at the entrance. He knew exactly where his friends’ benches were, but he stalled. He glanced over at the very first bench. There were so many people here that he could recite by name. Dana Falkenberg. She was only three years old.

This time, he didn’t bother holding back the tears, he just let them fall. Elmer started towards Dana’s bench and fell to his knees beside it, staring at the little river of water flowing in front of it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry that it was you. You were just a baby..”

Elmer looked up, his face already tearstained as he searched for Mike’s bench. He needed to tell Mike that his brother still cried. They all did.

It had happened seven years ago. Elmer was thirty-two now. Seven years ago today, three planes crashed into three different buildings and killed 2,996 people. Ten of them were some of Elmer’s best friends.

Elmer took a shaky breath and stood slowly, making his way towards Mike’s bench on wobbly legs.

He was in the row with the 25-year-olds. Elmer shivered. This is the row where he would be if he’d…

Elmer sat on the bench, running his fingers over Mike’s name, inscribed on the metal side. Elmer closed his eyes, remembering how he had gone to work that day. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

“Later, guys! And happy birthday again!” He had yelled, laughing as he walked out the apartment door, shutting it behind him. Elmer had gone to work that morning just like any other day. He and Albert had even planned a surprise party for the twins twenty-fifth birthday that night.

None of that happened. If it had, Elmer wouldn’t have been sitting on that bench. But it did. And he was.

Elmer’s eyes screwed shut and his shoulders hunched, quiet sobs shaking his body. How could this happen? Why did it have to happen to him? Why not someone else? Someone with less to lose?

His tears fell freely now. At this point, he couldn’t care less if someone saw him. All Elmer cared about now was his friends. And most of them were gone.

Elmer sniffed, wiping at his eyes. “Hey, Mike,” he croaked. “Happy thirty-second birthday, buddy.”

Elmer just sat for a long time, his fingers continuously rubbing over the carved letters on the side of the bench.

“Ike won’t celebrate anymore,” he whispered softly. “He says it isn’t the same without you.” Elmer shook his head, sighing. “I wish I could switch places with you,” he murmured. “That wouldn’t hurt Mike as much. He’s so unhappy now…” he trailed off, looking in the direction of his other friends’ benches.

The tears came again. Not with as much vengeance, but slowly. They slid down Elmer’s face and dripped into the running water in front of Mike’s memorial.

He shook his head again, dropping his face into his hands. “It’s been seven years, Mike,” he cried. “Seven years. I don’t know where you are now or what you’re doing, but… I miss you. Ike misses you. We all do.”

Elmer stayed there, sitting on Mike’s bench until the metal started to feel cold beneath him. He glanced up into the darkening sky and took a deep breath.

“I need to talk to the others,” he said to the bench, brushing his hand across it one last time. “I’ll come back. Another day.”


End file.
